At Home

Lights

• Replace regular, incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). They use one fourth of the energy.
• Turn off lights when you're not using them.
• Use ENERGY STAR® lights, lamps and bulbs wherever possible.

Heating & Cooling

• Close your shades or draperies on summer days. Sunlight heats up your home.
• Keep windows closed during summer days to keep out heat and humidity and open the windows at night to let in the cool air.
• Close your windows and doors if you have the air conditioner on. Approximately one third of the home's total air conditioning loss can be attributed to open windows or doors.
• Raise the room temperature just a few degrees during the cooling season, and lower the temperature during the heating season. Consider ENERGY STAR® programmable thermostats for this purpose.
• Install a set-back thermostat, which saves money by allowing you to set the temperature lower when you are not at home and keep it comfortable when you are.
• Have your air conditioner serviced once a year. Check freon levels and clean the coils. Once a month, replace the filters inside and out.
• Weather-strip, seal, and caulk leaky doors and windows, and install foam gaskets behind outlet covers.
• Install an energy efficient showerhead to save on water and water heating bills.
• If you have less than 12" of insulation in your attic, consider adding more.
• Wrap the water heater in an insulating blanket and save $2 a month. Be sure to check your user's manual and labels on the tank first.
• Install a whole house fan in your attic to draw cool air into your home through the windows while forcing hot air out through your attic vents.

Home Electronics

• Don't leave your TV on when you're not watching it or your stereo on when you aren't listening.
• Unplug or recycle that spare refrigerator in the garage if you don't really need it.
• Turning off your computer during long periods of non-use cuts costs and improves longevity.
• Most home office equipment has a "sleep" feature, so that it automatically powers down when not in use.

Kitchen Appliances

• Run your dishwasher during off-peak times (after 8 p.m.).
• Choose the light wash setting, which uses less water and runs for less time.
• Air dry your dishes instead of using the heat drying option.
• Only run full dishwasher loads.
• Don't rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Scrape the food into the garbage.
• Use smaller pans when you're cooking. Smaller pans use less energy to heat up.
• Defrost frozen food in the refrigerator instead of running hot water over it.
• Prepare more than one item at a time in the oven to save energy or use a microwave oven, which uses a fraction of the energy.
• When purchasing new kitchen appliances check the energy rating sticker for the annual consumption.

Washer/Dryer

• Air dry clothes instead of using the dryer, whenever possible.
• Clean the dryer filter before each use.
• Do two dryer loads in a row to best utilize the generated heat.
• Use your washer and dryer during off-peak times (after 8 p.m.) or on weekends when energy use is lower.
• Wash clothes in cold or warm water rather than hot, and rinse in cold. The rinse temperature has no effect on cleaning.